Follow the Leader
by PandoraNaflink
Summary: Sick fic! 11 year-old Brick is sick, though he hates and denies every part of it. Who comes to look after him despite a lot of hate from her sisters? Blossom/Brick  Under the influence of utter boredom
1. Chapter 1

_**Right, this is a completely random sick fic that I more or less wrote because I have writers block and am also re-watching the Powerpuff Girls at the moment as I was like addicted to the show when I was an ickol toddler. A lot of Brick/Blossom fluff 'cause I love the pairings... and sickening stuff like that. I don't blame you if this is not your thing, it's not mine either, but I'm writing it because of... well the reasons above. ^^**  
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_Follow the Leader_

_Chapter 1  
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The sun was almost setting over the City of Townsville, leaving the large buildings bathed in a deep orange glow. Children had been scurried into their homes, Parents were busy preparing dinners and the atmosphere for the first time in days seemed to be completely relaxed.

But that mood was easy to change as a flash of red, green and blue took to the sky, melding with the colours of the fading sun, creating mischief in its path.

"I'm bored!" A pair of deep blue eyes shone against the sky as Boomer, the least menacing of the Rowdyruff Boys whined once more, rolling onto his back in the middle of the air, staring at the sky.

It had been around six years since the Rowdyruff's had been created by the infamous Mojo Jojo and now the boys had just reached eleven. Nothing much had changed of them except for a slight growth spurt. Their hair remained a mess; their clothes remained with the same colour co-ordination towards their eyes. They were the same boys that the Powerpuff's fought six years ago and the same boys the Powerpuff's continued to fight now.

"Quit whining, we'll do summin' good." Brick grinned slyly, looking down towards the city. _Their _City. It had come to their attention that though both Powerpuff and Ruff seemed to fight at least once a week, there was still no clear winner. Sometimes the Ruff's would win sometimes they would lose. Both sides had lost the will to kill, they were evenly matched... so they fought it out, each time the Ruff's finding more disturbing ways to catch the girl's attention.

"Can we play a game?" Boomer asked suddenly, breaking Brick's concentration.

"A game!" Butch grinned, smiling darkly towards his blonde brother, "Sounds good!"

"Shut it wimps, we ain't playing no sissy games." Brick growled, beginning to descend, "Let's blow up summin'."

"Like what?" Boomer asked as he followed his brother down.

Brick shrugged, landing on the ground and folding his arms. Truth was, he had no idea what they should do. All he was aware of was that for some reason, he didn't really _feel _like doing much at all. It was starting to bug him; ever since he'd gotten up this morning he could tell something didn't feel right, his nose had been stuffy and his body seemed to ache all over. But like he'd tell his brothers _that?_

"A bank?" Butch suggested, shrugging.

"We don't need no money!" Brick snapped, shoving his brother in disgust, then... his eyes widened as he realised _why _blowing up a bank would then be such a great idea, if they didn't need the money after all... the look on the people of Townsville as they realised all their precious little savings had been severed. Brick grinned, "Let's blow up a bank!"

"But I jus-"

"Shut it moron!" Brick growled, punching his brother in the arm as he took off again, this time a little more unstably than he had done before. These aches were really starting to set in... lying mostly in his head but slowly creeping around his body. Brick remained strong nonetheless. His brothers were _his _responsibility and their responsibility as the Rowdyruff Boys was to get into as much trouble as possible before being attacked by their enemies. The prissy Powerpuff Girls.

Together the boys used their laser vision to blow past the doors of the bank, flying in easily.

"Wreck the place, do whatever you want with the cash!" Brick grinned as the boys split up, ripping apart the interior of the bank piece by piece.

Brick made his way to the vault, easily pulling the door out of its hinges. Unfortunately, as soon as the vault was broken, a painfully annoying alarm began to blare into his ear.

Normally, this wouldn't have fazed the kid in the slightest... but today, it seemed to bore into his head. Brick gritted his teeth as he flew into the vault, scattering the cash and burning obscenities into the vault's walls.

"Look at all the money!" Boomer cried, not even noticing the blaring alarm. "We could buy a whole lotta candy and video games with this stuff."

"We don't need money, idiot!" Butch grunted, hovering by his brother, "we _steal _stuff!What'd be the point of buyin' stuff like a sissy lame-o!"

"I'm not a sissy!" Boomer complained.

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so times a gazillion!"

"Am not time a gazillion and one!"

"Would you guys _shut up!" _Brick hurled himself into the conversation, his eyes blazing a more powerful, dangerous red than before.

Both brothers instantly shut up, backing away from their leader.

"Dude, you okay?" Butch asked instantly, noticing that Brick's skin tone had seemed to have paled through his short outburst.

"M'fine!" Brick growled, folding his arms, "it's just this stupid alarm!" he muttered, driving his arm into the wall of the vault, pulling out a bunch of snapped wires a few moments later. Butch and Boomer looked at the ceiling as the alarm died down.

"Awesome!" the two said together, grinning.

Suddenly, a crash from the main entrance signalled the boy's attention.

"We know you're in here guys!" Blossom's voice echoed into the vault.

"Yeah so come out now and we'll beat your butts!" Buttercup yelled.

Brick shook off his previous feelings of discomfort and grinned darkly, "Even better! Now we get to fight proper-like!"

"These boys just don't know when to quit," Blossom muttered as they floated around the bank, stealthily awaiting the boys to show themselves as they always did. From the six years of fighting the Rowdyruffs, one thing was for sure. They'd never give up a good fight.

In the six years since the girl's first encounter, the three super heroes had also changed as well. Each had grown slightly taller. Though they still insisted on wearing the same colour schemed dresses, Blossom's hair was now tied up with a simple pink hair band instead of the childish heart clip, Buttercup had grown her hair to an extent that it fell just above her shoulders and Bubbles had more or less stayed the same. She even slept with the same toys and refused to rid of any of the childish items lying about in their room.

The girls had grown stronger in their six years of fighting and though this proved helpful with battles against Mojo Jojo or unsuspecting monsters from out of town, the girls knew they'd always be evenly matched with their true enemies. The Rowdyruff boys, their evil male counterparts whose sole existence depended on the destruction of all things good and 'prissy.'

"You sure they're here?" Buttercup grumbled, looking around the bank in a bored fashion, "I don't see any-"

A flash of green cut her sentence short as the figure flung themselves into her, pushing her to the ground. Butch's menacing dark green eyes narrowed to slits as he gazed upon his goody-good counterpart.

"You're dead!" Buttercup yelled, instantly engaging in battle as she punched Butch in the gut.

Butch recovered quickly, grabbing Buttercup's longer hair and pulling her to the ground, "nice hair princess," Butch mocked, swinging the Powerpuff back and forth before letting her go, a stream of green light flying through the hole in the roof as Buttercup was launched out.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles and Blossom yelled together, readying to aid their sister when a flood of red and blue joined the girls in the same fashion Butch had taken Buttercup.

"Get off!" Bubbles cried at Boomer.

"Sorry? Didn't catch that, you want me tah punch you some more?" Boomer grinned, throwing the Powerpuff across the floor as she quickly recovered, running at him with full force, the two blue children disappeared as an almighty crash was heard, signally a new exit wound for the already crumbling bank.

Though Blossom and Brick were ready to engage with the same fight as their siblings, Blossom instantly noticed something strange about Brick's attacks. Though he was punching her, Blossom found them weak and almost painless, though he was attempting to grab her; she found it easy to dodge. Blossom frowned as she dodged Brick's latest attack.

"Something the matter princess?" Brick growled, wiping his arm across his face as he sniffed, his gaze momentarily wandering as his own thoughts began to wonder whether he looked as bad as he felt.

"Nothing's the matter," Blossom grinned, grabbing Brick by the shoulders and throwing him against the wall. Brick pulled himself from it with more effort than he thought should have been necessary for such a wimpy throw. Still, he recovered enough to dodge the lasers that came his way from Blossom's latest attack. After rolling out of the way, Brick jumped into the air, shooting his own lasers from his eyes as the deep red ray collided with Blossom's lighter one.

Usually, the rays would balance out, providing a less-than-useful attack.

This time...

Blossom could see that Brick was having trouble keeping up his side of the attack. Sweat had begun to form on his face as his breath seemed to become more laboured.

Blossom kept well focused on her target, watching him as his laser wavered as his body seemed to shudder.

Brick shuddered; he knew he couldn't keep this up. For whatever reason, the fight provided little of what he expected. Instead of being too preoccupied to notice the strange aches and pains in his body, it seemed to make them worse, providing him with more symptoms... more aches and pains and an annoying tickle in his throat, welling there... waiting to escape.

Brick couldn't handle it any longer.

He broke concentration, coughing into his hand.

In the second he had done that, his laser was overpowered by Blossom's as it sped past his barrier, shooting straight into his chest. Blossom watched as Brick's body shot through the bank's walls as he skidded deep into the concrete until he came to a stop in a steaming crater near the centre of the City.

Butch and Boomer who had previously been hovering over Townsville, broke their own concentration as soon as they heard the crash.

Both brothers looked down in shock to see Blossom still flying strong... which meant...

It was _Brick _who was in that crater...

"Brick!" Both brothers cried at the same time, ignoring their fights with the Powerpuffs and instead disappeared in clouds of blue and green as they shot back into the City, landing directly next to the crater.

Brick's arm appeared from the crater moments later. Both brothers showed expressions of relief that they quickly discarded and would on a later date most likely deny they'd ever shown. Boomer held out his hand for Brick to take, but Brick simply shoved it away, coughing harshly into his hands as he climbed back onto the surface of the road.

Butch and Boomer, noticing that the girls were following them, quickly stood in front of Brick for his own protection. Boomer grabbed onto Brick's shoulder stealthily as Butch narrowed his eyes at the three heroes.

"See you around Powerpuff Losers!" Butch spat, grabbing Brick's other shoulder as the two brothers pulled him into the air in a flash of light, disappearing before any of the Powerpuffs could react.


	2. Chapter 2

__**xD I cannot believe I'm carrying this on... enjoy! Haha.  
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_Chapter 2_

"Get off me!" Brick growled, coughing weakly once more before wriggling out from his brother's grips, "why'd you idiots drag me away!"

Butch looked at his brother as if he was crazy, "dude... Blossom beat you."

"Hah!" Brick looked away, "lucky shot! I'm f-fine," Brick broke off into another fit of coughs, this time swaying slightly within the air.

Boomer looked at him nervously, "summin's wrong with you Brick."

"I'm fine!" Brick insisted, glowering at his brother.

"We ain't five no more Brick; we ain't gonna laugh if you're sick." Butch tried, "Blossom could've killed you dude."

Brick narrowed his eyes, "I ain't dead."

"You could be..." Boomer muttered, flying slightly ahead of his brother.

"What'd you say?" Brick growled, attempting to catch up to Boomer but finding that he lacked the energy. He blinked suddenly, coughing once before he noticed an uneasiness in his head. Everything in front of him was swirling, making him feel dizzy and sick to his stomach.

Brick swerved some more in his flight patterns, his skin turning a disturbing shade of white.

"Brick!" Butch and Boomer yelled together, grabbing their brother's arm just before he fell down.

The two of them steadied Brick, easing him onto the solid ground, afraid of what had happened.

"B-Brick?" Boomer asked nervously, inspecting his brother, whose eyes were firmly forced shut.

"Maybe you're right..." Brick said shakily, opening his eyes and watching the faces of his brothers swim before him. Brick shuddered, hugging his stomach, "summin' ain't right with m-me," Brick hardly managed to finish his sentence as a wave of nausea he'd been fighting back since he'd been knocked down by Blossom hit him full force. Unable to swallow the bile back down his throat, Brick ran to the nearest trash can and retched into it.

Boomer stared at Brick, his mouth slightly a-gape.

Butch averted his gaze as Brick pulled away from the trash can; his face still slightly tinged green.

"Dude..." Butch grunted, moving over to his brother, "we gotta get you home."

"I just don't think it seemed right." Blossom sighed as she sat cross legged on the bed, allowing Bubbles to gently brush through her hair, readying it for bed.

"Yeah, Brick never gives up like that." Buttercup sighed, rolling her eyes as she sat on the bed next to Blossom.

"Do you think something's wrong with him?" Bubbles asked innocently from behind Blossom's back, her tongue poking out slightly due to the concentration it took to make Blossom's hair look perfect.

"Do you think we even _care_?" Buttercup growled.

After seeing the shocked expression from Bubbles and Blossom she scowled, "Oh c'mon, you're not seriously telling me that you are actually worried about him?"

Blossom shrugged, looking at the floor, "they're our counterparts Buttercup... if Brick's got something wrong with him... it might affect us." Blossom thought out her words strategically. If she mentioned the slight chance that whatever was affecting Brick could affect _them _then maybe just _maybe..._

"Pfft!" Buttercup jumped off the bed and walked over to the window, "they're bad news, they're evil! Plus, there's probably nothing even wrong with him. They're guys! They were probably trying to trick us!"

"Even so..." Blossom sighed, "we should keep an eye on him the next time we encounter. If there's even the slight chance that Brick's got something wrong with him... it's in our best interest to find out what."

Buttercup folded her arms, "we're not helping them."

Bubbles nodded, "they try to kill us every day... we shouldn't..."

"We're the good guys," Blossom resolved, "if we are put in the position where we are needed, then we shall decide _then _whether to do something or not."

Blossom took the brush from Bubbles, flying over to their mirror and placing it on the table in front. Buttercup and Bubbles clambered into bed, shortly followed by Blossom.

Blossom sighed, folding her arms over her sheets. She really _was _worried about Brick. Though they fought all the time and though the boys were constantly breaking the law, sometimes Blossom felt like one day... one day they would become useful allies.

Maybe she was wrong...

After all, they weren't even created with the same compounds... who knew how stable they really were. Maybe this was for the best. Perhaps it was impossible to make a pure evil creation good.

"Goodnight girls," she sighed as the room was bathed in darkness.

Butch and Boomer managed Brick between them, carrying him to their 'lair' of sorts. A small cabin that they'd managed to kick Fuzzy out of a few years ago after a fight which concluded with him 'disappearing' from Townsville completely , now it had three make-shift beds and stacks of stolen items from their past. Butch and Boomer laid Brick onto the bed in the direct centre, decorated with deep red sheets that they stole from a furniture store.

Brick was only semi-conscious, his face was covered with a layer of sweat and he was shivering quite fiercely. Needless to say, the boys were worried. Brick was their leader and without him, their skills as criminals depleted greatly. Brick was always there to tell them what to do, when to attack and how to ambush the Powerpuff girls. Without him, they were just two boys with unruly super powers with the potential to get beaten up by three lame girls.

It wasn't a good image for them, and besides that, they weren't entirely sure what was wrong with Brick.

Sure, the three of them had gotten sick on occasion, but it hadn't stopped them from fighting. If anything it made them more dangerous, especially around the Powerpuff girls, they hardly touched them if it meant there'd be a chance of getting ill.

But as Boomer and Butch looked at Brick now, they weren't entirely sure what to do.

Wait it out?

Is that what you were supposed to do?

They were The Rowdyruff boys; they weren't supposed to get _this _sick.

The boys sighed.

They'd have to wait it out 'til morning.

By ten, the boys began to stir. Boomer on the bed on the far right was lying on his front, his head under his pillow as a small spec of drool made its appearance on his lower lip. Butch, on the farther left was sprawled diagonally along his sheets, his head leaning off the side of the bed as he snored steadily. Brick lay on his right side, his red cap had been turned forwards and was now covering his face. His arms were wrapped around his body, his face contorted into a weak frown. He was under a deeper sleep compared to his brothers.

Boomer was the first to wake up, his head instantly turning to the centre of the room, his eyes focusing on a very oblivious Brick. Boomer swallowed steadily, watching as a small drop of sweat steadily climbed down the side of Brick's face. Boomer knew he had to be sick. If he'd been staring at a completely healthy Brick right now, he'd already have been wrestled to the ground, begging for mercy. It was how it worked.

Now he was afraid.

"Brick awake yet?"

Boomer was startled to see Butch hovering over Brick, staring him down like he'd never seen him before in his life.

Boomer shook his head, finding himself speechless as he hovered to the other side of his ailing brother. "What should we do dude? I mean who do you call for summin' like this?"

"No one,"

Butch and Boomer's eyes widened in shock as they looked down at Brick. His eyes were open and narrowed as he grabbed the front of his hat and pushed it backwards once more. "I told you guys I'm fine!" though he'd expected his outburst to be more of a _yell, _Brick winced as his voice barely made a harsh whisper. He grabbed his throat sticking his tongue out slightly, "what the Hell?" he rasped, narrowing his eyes.

Boomer stared at his brother, "Dude... you've lost your voice."

"N-no way!" Brick hissed, sitting up abruptly, only to fall back down as the world swerved dangerously around him.

"You gotta rest bro... least that's what I heard people do when they're sick,"

Brick growled, "I ain't sick!"

"You're sweating..." Boomer pointed out, almost apologetically. He averted his gaze when he saw the venom in Brick's gaze just waiting to leap out at the weaker sibling.

"Just sit tight Brick..." Butch began, his eyes darting nervously around the room, "we can get you some of that medicine stuff, y'know that stuff that makes people better."

Brick growled lowly, "I don't need none of that stuff," he croaked, rubbing at his neck angrily. This whole situation was annoying him. His head hurt, his muscles ached, his throat was _burning _and thanks to way too much snot than he was used to being clogged in his nose he could hardly breathe either. After a moment of silence to contemplate his situation, his shoulder slumped in defeat. "You really think it'd help?" He asked quickly, averting his gaze from both brothers.

Butch shrugged, "dunno, I think so."

"There's a medicine place in Townsville!" Boomer pointed out excitedly.

"Then we'll go there," Butch grinned, "we'll break in, grab what we need... won't take a second!"

Brick nodded, instantly regretting it as he covered his hands over his eyes stubbornly, hating how the world twisted around him, hating how it made his stomach want to spit out the remaining food inside him...

"Fine... but if those lame Powerpuffs come near you guys, you don't tell 'em that I'm..." Brick looked at the floor with a slight grimace, "sick..." he finished quickly.

Boomer hovered closer to his brother, "then what do we tell 'em?"

Brick growled, using whatever energy he could muster to punch his brother reasonably hard on the chin, "nothing doofus, they're our enemies, you don't talk to 'em!"

Boomer scowled, rubbing his chin before shaking it off reasonably fast, "fine." He nodded.

"Right well... stay here!" Butch said, his eyes narrowed, yet... Brick could see concern swimming in there somewhere. He chose not to mention it. He didn't want to show his brother up for something as sissy as _worrying, _besides... he wasn't even that sick.

Just as the brothers left the cabin, they heard a round of unhealthy, wet coughs from inside. Butch and Boomer winced. They needed to help Brick. Fast.

The girls, lying peacefully in their bed were awoken to the blare of the hotline that was now in the shape of a much more accessible cell phone, striped by the three colours of the girls. Blossom awoke first, bleary eyed as she got out of bed and flew over to the hotline.

"Yes?" she said through a yawn.

"BLOSSOM! You've got to come quick! The Rowdyruff boys are at it again, they're attacking Townsville Pharmacy!"

Blossom blinked, "a-a pharmacy?" she shook off the worried vibes that coursed through her body and instead cleared her throat, "We'll be right there Mayor!"

"Girls, get up!"

"Huh, what!" Buttercup groaned, "It's too early for crime fighting!"

"It's ten," Blossom sighed.

"It's Saturday!" Buttercup hissed, "lie in time... no crime fighting, wake me up when it involves ditching school!"

"Buttercup!" Bubbles shoved Buttercup out of the bed.

"Hey!" Buttercup yelled, but realised no one was there, Bubbles was already hurriedly following Blossom.

Buttercup sighed, dressing herself like a shot and with a beam of green light; she caught up to her sisters quickly and easily.

By the time the girls reached Townsville, they were completely speechless to see the image in front of them.

"The Mayor was right..." Blossom gasped as the girls took in the scene before them.

The only Pharmacy in Townsville had been broken into. The windows were smashed and an alarm was blaring from the front doors which had now been fully pulled out of their hinges. From inside, the girls could hear the familiar whooshing noises of the Rowdyruff boys, up to no good by... _stealing medicine!_

Bubbles blinked, "what are they doing?" she asked quietly.

Buttercup growled, "Whatever it is, I don't like it!"

"No Buttercup!" but Blossom was too late, Buttercup had already flown inside. "Alright, what's with you idiots stealing medicine!" The strongest Powerpuff yelled.

"Who you callin' an idiot?" Butch growled, readying to attack his counterpart. Before he was able, Boomer appeared from another isle, grabbing his brother by the shoulder. "Don't Butch,"

Butch struggled slightly within his brother's grip before giving up, choosing to instead stare down his counterpart as he backed off from Buttercup.

"I can't believe I gotta say this but..." Butch took a deep breath and shook his head, "we don't want no trouble."

"Well too bad! You got trouble! You're stealing!" Buttercup hissed.

Blossom watched from outside the Pharmacy as Bubbles joined Buttercup in the conversation being had between the supers. She'd scanned the entire area... and the further she scanned the more her stomach twisted in regret and _worry. _

Brick wasn't there.

She was sure of it.

So... where _was _he?

Something had to be up... something had to be happening. Brick was the Rowdyruff Boy's leader; he wouldn't dare lead them into a battle without him there. Though he was her evil counterpart, Blossom knew that he felt responsible for his brothers just as much as she felt responsible for her sisters. This wasn't his style... he'd never abandon his brothers.

_We don't want no trouble._

Blossom hadn't been mistaken... Butch had actually said that.

_Butch. _The most aggressive of the team... the one that was easily aggravated... if not _more _than Buttercup. He was giving up the chance to fight.

Blossom winced as she heard a crash from inside. Despite his plea, it seemed Buttercup hadn't agreed. She watched two flashes of green swipe along the Pharmacy as Buttercup pinned Butch to the floor. Bubbles was already chasing Boomer... the medicine that they had been attempting to steal was now spilt all over the floor in various shades.

There was no one there for her to pick a fight with after all. Brick wasn't there. But he was somewhere...

And Blossom knew just where to look.

It only took a few minutes for Blossom to locate the little cabin-like home that the Rowdyruff's had made their own back when Bubbles had posed as one of them. It was small, but through the six years that Blossom hadn't seen it, she guessed it had probably grown in item count just because of the amount of stuff the boys had managed to steal.

Blossom knew it was bad to break and enter, even if it was a bad guy's house. Sure, they did it all the time to Mojo Jojo... but Brick was in some way... connected to her. Though she couldn't stand the thought of it... they shared the same kind of mind. They were both leaders, they both took the lead with responsibilities.

Blossom took a deep breath, readying herself for the worst. With only moments to decide what she was going to do, she flew straight for the door, bursting through it like a wild thing.

Shocked... that was the word for it.

Brick and Blossom shared the same expressions of shock horror as they were both horrified with what stood before them.

Brick; though his senses had become harder to use since he got sick could still sense Blossom from a mile away. Though his muscles ached, he still rolled out of his bed.

Barely standing, he stood and waited for Blossom.

Unluckily, his body had decided to give up just seconds before Blossom crashed in. Brick was lost in a round of wet, sloppy coughs before he even had a moment's notice. He was on his knees by the time Blossom had entered, his eyes wide with embarrassment and shock.

"Brick?" Blossom didn't know what else to say. Brick was pale, _too _pale with thick, dark bags under his eyes. He was literally trembling where he knelt and Blossom could physically see the energy being lost from his body.

Brick blinked once before his eyes rolled back into his skull.

Blossom reacted merely on instinct, driving her body forwards as she grabbed her counterpart, heaving him onto his bed that creaked with the added weight.

Blossom could feel him shivering under her hands, and it took all her might not to shake him in pure fear, hoping to rouse him from his sudden black out.

On the bright side, at least this explained what had happened to him...

Blossom sighed; backing up from the kid, readying to leave... she just couldn't be around him like this... it was too weird when he wasn't trying to beat her up.

"What the Hell you doing here princess?" Blossom's eyes widened as she turned back to face Brick. His eyes were unfocused, but they still lay directly at her. Blossom didn't know what to say, whether to even react or not.

"You passed out so I-"

"So you what?" Brick growled, his eyes seemingly glowing a deeper red than beforehand. Steadying his hat on his head, Brick was hovering in front of Blossom in an instant, staring down at her with murderous intent in his eyes.

Blossom would have been frightened were it not for how he looked. He was run down, barely able to fly. He looked like he might pass out again any moment... but it didn't seem to faze him.

"You're sick..." Blossom noted quietly, "I won't tell anyone."

Brick scowled, grabbing Blossom by the collar of her dress, "good 'cause if you did I'd-" he broke off a second, feeling a tickle attack at his throat, "I'd..." his voice wavered as he let go of Blossom, coughing into his hands. His head spun violently as his body gave way, forcing him to stand, wobbling limbs struggling with the pressure of keeping him standing. "I-I-I'd" Brick groaned, doubling over as he hugged his stomach... this _threat _thing wasn't going to plan...

Blossom's eyes widened as she watched Brick's skin tone turn to a light shade of green. It was then and there that she realised his symptoms surpassed the common cold. Blossom's eyes darted around the room, acting on adrenaline as she tried to find anything... _anything _that could catch the soon-to-be vomit that Brick was desperately attempting to hold back.

_There!_

Blossom noticed a small green waste bin, completely empty lying on its side in the corner. Without a moment to lose she raced to the bin, flying in front of Brick and holding it out as he swiped it from her.

Brick turned his back on the Powerpuff, retching into the bin with all his might. Blossom didn't know whether to be afraid, disgusted or angry...

Brick's symptoms were worse than she'd imagined... this was more like the flu virus.

Blossom had to know more.

She guided Brick back to his bed, despite his weak protests. Even a Rowdyruff boy was unable to fight back in this state. Blossom was confused to say the least. She didn't know whether to stay or to go... Brick was sicker than she'd imagined from him, but it wasn't _her _responsibility to do anything about it.

Then her heart sank.

_Oh... those guys..._

She shook her head. Butch seriously didn't want any trouble after all. They were rounding up medicine for Brick! Despite the fact that they were going about it the wrong way... Blossom couldn't really blame them. Like a cashier would take them seriously if they flew in asking to buy medicine? Blossom doubted they even had any money. They were just boys with no one to guide them... except Brick, and he was lying in front of her, pale and shivering.


	3. Chapter 3

_**:D Tah-Dah! ^^**  
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_Chapter 3_

Blossom was the leader, the one who came up with the best and most logical solutions to almost every problem the girls faced. Every monster had a strategy, ever dilemma had a solution. But now Blossom was faced with something other than a monster, more confusing than a criminal.

She'd left Brick on his bed, fighting the urge to never return. She was afraid because she'd never tackled something like this before. She'd never _seen _one of her most worthy enemies being struck down so violently by a strain of the flu.

_Or was it just the flu?_

Blossom shook off the doubt, afraid that her mind might lead her to the other alternative to just a flu virus. If it was something worse... If Brick's life was in danger...

Blossom refused to think of it that way and instead, hurriedly flew back to where her sisters were still fighting the two remaining Rowdyruff boys. Boomer and Butch were losing to say the least. Without Brick there to guide them, they were just two eleven year old boys out of their depth in a battle they couldn't win. They had no strategy, no one to call out a group move... no one to exclaim what 'game' they were going to play with the Powerpuffs. They were alone.

Blossom flew in, glad that Buttercup and Bubbles were too enthralled in their winning battle to notice the Powerpuff sneak down one of the isles. Quickly, Blossom scanned the stacks of different medicines. Pills... solutions, liquids... she wasn't entirely sure what to get. She could remember when she or her sisters had been sick in the past and the Professor had bought certain medications. Things for coughs...

Blossom grabbed a bottle of cough syrup and inspected it, remembering back to the moment she'd crashed in on Brick. He'd been coughing pretty badly... Blossom nodded to herself and decided to keep it.

Now she needed something for nausea. Brick's green face and the sound of retching was an experience that Blossom had wished to forget, but nonetheless, she picked up a small pack of pills, hoping that they'd be alright for an eleven year old... even if he was a super hero made of clippings, nails, puppy dog tails and toxic waste.

After grabbing a box of pain killers, Blossom quickly stashed the medicine under her dress as she watched the two boys being dealt their finishing blows, signalling the end of the fight.

"What do we do? What do we do?" She could hear Boomer's fearful voice even as they flew out of the Pharmacy.

Blossom squinted, seeing Butch's head shake sadly. She had to do something...

"Hah! We beat those babies like they were nothing!" Buttercup cheered, grinning darkly as the two supers fled the scene.

Bubbles frowned, "Boomer seemed sad... he's never sad when we fight, never!"

Blossom sighed, "Yeah well..."

"And did you notice? Brick wasn't there!" Buttercup cut off Blossom, leaving her mouth a gape. Buttercup turned to Blossom who was hovering just above her two sisters, "did you see him Blossom? Where did you go to anyway?"

Blossom blinked, clearing her throat and shrugging, "I searched around from him... I couldn't find him though." She lied, feeling her heart squeeze uncomfortably in her chest.

"Too bad, maybe there is something wrong with him after all, especially to miss out on a fight like that!" Buttercup laughed, "Without him, those two are sissies themselves."

Blossom had to hide the frown that seemed to want to set itself upon her features and instead she cleared her throat, "yeah... we should probably head home."

Buttercup stretched, "Yes! Maybe I can sleep in a couple more hours, no one wake me until after noon!"

And with that said... it seemed the girls were completely back to normal routine.

Blossom sighed, fiddling with the medicine under her dress. She needed to get this to the Rowdyruff boys somehow...

When they got home, the Professor was working on something in the lab, Buttercup instantly went back to bed and Bubbles went downstairs to watch cartoons.

"Want to watch TV Blossom?" Bubbles asked, turning the TV onto some form of a cartoon that involved talking animals. Blossom rolled her eyes, Bubbles really never changed from what she liked.

"I'm going out," Blossom said, opening the door.

"Oh! Can I come?" Bubbles went to get up.

"Oh... it's nothing, I'm just going to the library, I'll be back in a second... then I'll watch TV with you."

Bubbles grinned, "or we could go to the park!" she suggested.

Blossom smiled, "fine, go ask professor, I'll be back shortly."

Blossom left to the sound of Bubbles' high pitched squeal "Prooofeeessssoooooor!"

It didn't take long to fly over to the cabin again and Blossom had brought with her all the medicine that she'd 'apprehended' from the Pharmacy. Blossom stood behind the door, not sure of how to exactly enter. It wasn't like she was popular with her arch enemies...

Sadly, Blossom didn't have the time to think up a way of entering as the door suddenly swung open to Butch's menacing glare.

"What you doin' here?" Butch snarled, grabbing Blossom by the throat and pushing her against the outside of the cabin's walls.

Blossom scowled back, "I-I w-was, g-going to help," she gasped, attempting to loosen Butch's grip of her oesophagus.

"Like we'd believe you!" Butch growled, "we don't need no help from some sissy girl!"

"Butch,"

Both Blossom and Butch looked in the direction of the voice. Brick was leaning on the doorway, his hat swivelled to face the front so the front of the cap could hide most of his face. If it was possible, he looked worse than when Blossom had first seen him, he was barely standing and his voice was only just above a whisper, locks of spiked red hair were also poking out from the front of his cap, each one soaked in sweat.

Blossom narrowed her eyes, "I know what you guys were trying to do, you wanted to get some medicine for Brick."

Butch let go of Blossom fully, folding his arms, "what's it to yah?"

Blossom pulled out the pills and syrups that she had been carrying and held them out before her, "you want these, you don't fight me. Got it?"

Butch took the medications and nodded once, "fine, we won't fight yah, but one wrong move and don't think we'll go easy on yah just 'cause you're helping!"

"I'm not-" But Blossom cut herself off. She actually _was _helping her enemies... her evil counterpart... she _stole _for them, all because of this strange feeling of guilt that set deeply within her soul. She hated it, but at the same time she refused to let it go.

Blossom moved over to Brick, pushing up his hat slightly so she could get a good look at his face, "how badly have you been coughing?" she asked abruptly.

Brick shrugged, averting his gaze from the super, "Bit less than before..."

Blossom nodded, moving her lips closer to his ear so only he could hear her next words, "are you in pain?" she whispered.

Brick blinked in surprise, but couldn't hide it. He was in pain, his head hurt, his stomach hurt, Hell his entire body hurt. He nodded very tightly, refusing to make the world spin again.

Blossom nodded, "Start him on those pain killers, only give him one, got it? I'm not sure how strong they are."

Boomer and Butch looked at each other from opposite sides of the room and nodded.

Blossom smiled, "Good, now you keep him in bed."

Brick felt Butch and Boomer tug on his body as they guided him to the bed. "Why are you helping?" Brick rasped as he began to lie down, absolutely despising how weak he felt.

Blossom shrugged, "I guess I just want to," quickly, she flew up to Butch and grabbed him by the arm, "tell my sisters about this and I swear you'll be on your own," Blossom nodded towards Brick with a weary smile before heading out again, "and remember, keep him in bed no matter how much it takes."

Butch and Boomer nodded before the Powerpuff vanished, only leaving a stream of pink light to show that she was ever there.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thanks guys for the lovely reviews. :) I'm glad you like it so much, so here's another chapter to keep you entertained! x**  
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_Chapter 4_

Bubbles propelled herself against the swing, giggling fiercely the faster she went, Buttercup had refused to go, exclaiming that it wasn't 'noon' yet and she had plenty of video games she needed practice on. Which left Blossom, sitting on the swing next to Bubbles, feeling unable to enjoy herself.

Thoughts of the day's events kept swimming through her head.

She'd _stolen _for a Rowdyruff boy... she'd _helped _her evil counterpart and yet she couldn't feel any regret for what she had done. Seeing Brick in that kind of condition had startled her... she'd been afraid and not just because it was a shock, but because for a second... looking at him so weak, she actually _cared. _Cared for his life... worried that he was actually going to...

"Blossom?"

Blossom looked up from the ground, looking over to Bubbles who had stopped swinging and was staring at her sister, concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Blossom put on a fake smile, "Yeah, I am perfectly fine." She quipped.

Bubble's frowned, "I know you're lying Blossom... you do that weird smile."

"I do not-" But Blossom could see the hurt in Bubbles eyes and sighed, "It's nothing, really."

"Then can you tell me what it is?" Bubbles asked, her eyes glistening with innocence, "You've been acting weird ever since we got back from that Pharmacy..."

"It's nothing," Blossom looked to Bubbles with a silent plea, "Please, it's really nothing."

By the time the girls had got home, Bubbles and Blossom hadn't spoken since the awkward conversation at the swing sets.

"Hey Bubbles, wanna get your butt kicked?" Buttercup asked, holding up the spare game controller as Bubbles came inside. Bubbles looked at the remote blankly, before sniffing slightly and flying up the stairs.

"Something I said?" Buttercup asked, looking to Blossom, "Hey Blossom do you wanna get your-"

"No!" Blossom yelled, "Just... no,"

Buttercup frowned and followed her sisters up the stairs, "hey, what's the matter with you two?" she asked as they got into their room. Blossom frowned, "nothing!"

"Nuh-uh, there is something!" Bubbles whined, "she's been acting all quiet since the Pharmacy."

Buttercup looked at Blossom who'd begun to blush at this point, "Blossom?" she asked, a slight amount of aggression in her tone.

Blossom shrugged, "Nothing happened, I don't know what Bubbles is talking about." Blossom looked at her sister's stern expressions, "Can't we just drop it?" Blossom sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, "_please?"_

Buttercup sighed, "look... if you don't wanna talk then fine, but we're here if you do."

Bubbles nodded sadly, "that's right." She smiled.

Buttercup grinned, "right so who wants to play mega-smashdown three? I'll go easy on you first time 'round, promise!"

By the time the girls had finished playing due to Buttercup constantly winning, Bubbles and Buttercup wrestling over who was better at the game and then finally being called for Dinner by the Professor, it wasn't surprising that night fell so quickly.

The Professor tucked the girls into bed, wishing them goodnight as usual and then left them to their pleasant dreams.

Pleasant for some...

Blossom was fighting with herself whether to tell her sisters about her secrets with the Rowdyruff boys. Could she really expect them to understand? She was trying to help an enemy get better... so he could wreak _more _havoc. They were their most powerful, dangerous enemies. What was she thinking!

"Psst!"

Blossom was instantly alert, sitting up in her bed as she looked out around her in the dark, her pink eyes glimmering against the shine of the full moon.

Blossom's gaze travelled to the centre window where a pair of blue eyes were gazing out at her. Blossom wearily looked to her right. Upon seeing Bubbles lying there, snuggling against her Octopus doll, Blossom could feel her heart sink in her chest.

"Psst!"

Blossom sighed, glaring at the Rowdyruff boy as she wriggled from her sheets and floated over to the window. She flew out of it, floating in front of Boomer, "what?" she hissed, "what point of not letting my sisters know was hard for you to understand!"

Boomer shrugged, looking away nonchalantly, "Didn't know," he sighed, looking back to Blossom. Blossom could tell that Boomer was tired, there were bags beginning to appear around his eyes now too, as well as the fact that his attitude had changed with the sleep deprivation.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly.

Boomer sighed, "Brick's not co-operating, he keeps spewing the stuff you gave us."

Blossom felt her stomach twist as she nodded, "Oh... okay, I'll take a look, just let me get some clothes on."

In a shot, Blossom returned fully clothed as she followed Bubble's counterpart towards their cabin.

Little did Blossom know that Buttercup had awoke during their conversation, immediately enthralled by what she had heard.

"Bubbles, wake up! Bubbles!"

Bubbles squealed slightly, seeing Buttercups staring at her through the dark. Upon seeing it was only her sister she relaxed and yawned, "what?" she whispered.

"Blossom," Buttercup's eyes darted to the window, "she was outside... talking to _Boomer._"

"Boomer?" Bubbles blushed, feeling her heart beat slightly faster within her chest. Then she re-thought what Buttercup had just told her, "why was she-"

"That's what we're gonna find out!" Buttercup growled, grabbing Bubble's arm. "This can't be anything good... why the Hell is Blossom talking to those idiots..."

Bubbles yawned again as she put on her dress, following Buttercup outside, "maybe it had something to do with the Pharmacy thing..." she said, half asleep and completely unaware of her own words.

Buttercup blinked, "Oh my God..." she frowned, "I bet I know who this is to do with, God damnit, how dumb is she?"

When Blossom got to the cabin, Butch was sitting on the floor, leaning against Brick's bed, half asleep. Brick was – at this point – unconscious on his bed, one arm hanging from the bed and his cap covering most of his face. Neither boys looked peaceful, just exhausted...

Blossom frowned, "he's not kept any of it down?"

Boomer shrugged, "he said his stomach hurt and then he just," Boomer lifted his arms to enunciate his words, "blew chunks everywhere."

Blossom grimaced with the image in her head, but quickly shook it off, hovering over to Brick. She put the back of her hand against his forehead, feeling the heat that radiated from it. "He's got a fever," she sighed, "I think he has the stomach flu or something,"

Boomer sighed, "_or something?" _he slapped a hand over his face, "We're followin' you and all you've got is a _or something!"_

Blossom narrowed her eyes, "I'm not sure what else to say!" she yelled to the blonde, who recoiled with the venom in her eyes, instantly noticing the similarities with Blossom and his brother... they were both leaders, they both got angry... and they both took it out on him.

"Blossom's here?" Butch opened his eyes, looking over at her, "what do we do?" he asked, "we've tried everything!"

Blossom sighed... "there's one thing that we haven't, but I'm not sure if I could-"

"Blossom!"

In that one instant that Blossom heard Buttercup's voice; she knew it was all over. She could hear the anger, the voice of betrayal. The sadness, the rage... it was over for her. But all she could do was look at Brick who was completely oblivious. All she could do was stand strong as she saw Buttercup land in front of her, shoving Butch out of the way with little effort on her part.

"What are you doing?" Buttercup yelled, "You're helping the enemy!"

Blossom felt her face grow red with a sudden bout of anger, "so _what!" _she yelled out, folding her arms.

Buttercup recoiled slightly, staring wide eyed at her sister, "Blossom... you're helping the Rowdyruff boys... the ones who've been trying to _kill _us for six years!"

Bubbles joined in, lifting her arms, "the ones who stole this whole place from Fuzzy!"

Boomer narrowed his eyes, "Hey! He left... we just _helped _him!"

Buttercup scowled, "shut it!" she yelled, pushing the half-whit blonde to the floor. She then turned back to Blossom, venom in her eyes, "You kept _this _from us! You might as well start committing crime as well!"

Blossom felt her face redden as her heart thudded harder in her chest, "They needed our help," she cleared her throat, looking up at her green sister, "they _still _need our help." Suddenly, Blossom's eyes began to blaze a fiercer pink as she rose above her two sisters, pointing at the unconscious Brick on the bed, "I told you girls that we'd decide to help when we were given that decision. I chose to help. We're the Powerpuff girls; we _help _people no matter who they are!" Blossom narrowed her eyes, looking down at her sisters, "if you can't accept that then fine, maybe you're really not a Powerpuff girl after all. Maybe you've forgotten who we are! I haven't!" Blossom flew back to Brick, carefully placing her hands under his shoulders, "Brick needs our help and I'm giving it to him, we're taking him to the Professor, if _anyone _would know what to do, it's him."

The two sisters remained standing for a few moments, their mouths wide open as they watched Blossom, Butch and Boomer work together to take Brick up without rousing him from his uncomfortable slumber.

Bubbles was the first to bow her head, a few tears escaping her eyes as she rose from the ground, assisting the other supers with Brick's weight.

"Bubbles!" Buttercup called, distraught with what she saw.

"They need our help," Bubbles sighed.

"Yeah! And what happens after that? They'll try to kill us again!" Buttercup cried.

Blossom sighed, "maybe so, or _maybe _this might teach them a lesson!"

The two brothers looked at each other hastily. Boomer shook his head slightly to which Butch narrowed his eyes, gesturing to their unconscious brother and silently reminding him that if he were to go against the Powerpuff girls, they'd be on their own again. Boomer's eyes widened as he changed his shaking head to a nod, looking at the three sisters nervously.

"Right, so are you going to help us or not?" Blossom asked as Buttercup stood looking at the group, her eyes filled with venom and rage.

"What?" Buttercup growled, "who are you and what have you done with my sister!"

Blossom sighed, rolling her eyes, "maybe you're just not mature enough to understand..."

"WHAT?" Buttercup yelled, pointing to Bubbles, "Bubbles is the biggest baby here!"

"Am not!" Bubbles hissed.

Blossom scowled, "yet she's helping."

"Yeah," Bubbles grinned, sticking her tongue out.

"Can you sissi-" Butch paused, clearing his throat nervously, "Uh, _girls _quit fighting and help 'ere?"

"Of course," Blossom said, raising her gaze away from Buttercup's as the group of super heroes and villains alike flew out of the cabin and towards the Powerpuff home, leaving Buttercup to hastily, yet angrily follow after them.

Once they had reached home, the girls led the way into the Professor's lab. Needless to say, he was shocked to see the Rowdyruff boys closely following behind the Powerpuffs and even more shocked to see that Brick was unconscious, shivering and being supported by his two brothers.

After a long conversation between the girls and the Professor, a conversation Buttercup refused to be a part of and instead watched on the sidelines, the Professor agreed to help the boys.

"Are you sure you want me to help them girls?" The Professor asked, "After all, they are your evil counterparts."

Butch and Boomer smirked from where they stood, their eyes slightly narrowed as they watched the conversation being had. Buttercup growled towards them, next to them in a flash of light, "we shouldn't help them!" she exclaimed, pointing at them accusingly, "why should we? What have they done for us?"

Blossom shook her head at her disapproving sister, "Professor, we need to do it. It's the right thing to do."

The Professor solemnly agreed, happy for his girls that they were making decisions on their own. Brick was quickly set up on a small hospital-like bed in the corner of the lab for tests and examinations which the Professor instructed for all the children to leave the lab for.

"He's our brother!" Butch and Boomer defended, "why do we gotta leave?"

The Professor sighed, "if you want me to run the tests, then you'll leave."

After Buttercup and Bubbles had guided their counterparts out of the room, Blossom was left standing in the lab, staring at Brick blankly. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt. Her heart was fluttering in her chest every time she glanced at him, her stomach twisted in fear for whether the Professor could help him or not. Brick was still unconscious, his head slightly rolled to one side with his hat still covering most of his face. He was so _pale _so... vulnerable. It was hard to believe he was the same super villain that had stolen candy from babies... broken into video games stores... blown up important buildings... just to watch the pain on people's faces.

Blossom could see the pain on Brick's face. The Professor had begun to run tests; he'd taken a sample of Brick's blood and was ready to examine it. That was when he noticed Blossom standing in the corner, unable to move.

"Blossom?" he asked softly.

Blossom's eyes focused on the Professor as she shook off the pain she felt for Brick, "hm?" she asked, still slightly vacant about the whole situation.

"Are you okay?" the Professor asked, walking over to his pink daughter.

Blossom sighed, looking at Brick, "will he be okay?" she asked quietly, averting her gaze to the floor.

The Professor sighed, "It looks like a virus... but looks can be deceiving, I'm still wondering why neither Butch nor Boomer caught it... even you girls seem fine." The Professor put a hand on Blossom's shoulder, "I'll do my best,"

The girls and boys waited outside the lab for what seemed like an eternity. Boomer and Butch fell asleep leaning against the wall, Buttercup left to play video games, Bubbles was silently sitting on the floor, hugging her 'Octi' doll as she stared at the two boys and Blossom had been pacing from one side of the hall to the other. She couldn't keep still, she was worried out of her mind for some reason... it was like she was connected to Brick and felt what he felt. Fear... pain... sadness... but the sadness was _hers. _She was sad because she couldn't help. She felt useless just standing outside the lab.

She was brought out of her trance as she heard a round of coughs from inside the lab. Blossom's eyes widened as she heard footsteps on stairs as the Professor opened the door. He noticed the sleeping brothers first, but didn't wake them. Instead he ushered for Blossom only, allowing her to zoom past him within seconds, filled with fear for her counterpart.

Brick's eyes were open, barely. He'd rolled onto his side to face away from anything. He just stared at the wall silently.

"What is it?" Blossom whispered, staring at the out of character Rowdyruff boy.

The Professor smiled sadly, "I know what's wrong."

Blossom's eyes widened, "Really? What is it? Can you cure him? Is he going to be alright?" She scared herself with the amount of questions that fled her tongue, quickly covering her mouth as she looked at the Professor apologetically.

"It's fine," the Professor sighed, "I've identified the virus, it seems like a strain of the flu... but,"

"But?" Blossom asked worriedly.

The Professor sighed, rubbing his head, "it's incredible, whatever the virus is it's nothing I've seen before, it's mutated to fit Brick's genetic make-up..." Blossom looked at the Professor blankly, the Professor shrugged, expanding, "um... the toxic waste that his body was created from, it's deteriorating it, leaving his body weak, unable to consume things, basic flu symptoms really."

"Then why haven't Boomer and Butch been infected?" Blossom asked, "if they're made of the same components then..."

"Well that's it," the Professor cut Blossom off, "I haven't tested their blood yet, but from their exterior they seem completely healthy. The only thing I can imagine is that whatever it was... however it got to Brick, the two boys weren't exposed to it or at least not as badly."

Blossom sighed, "how do we fix him,"

The Professor sighed, "I'm going to try to construct an anti-virus for Brick, and also inject it into Butch and Boomer just in case. Whatever the virus is, it's aggressive but I think I can neutralise it." The Professor knelt down to Blossom's height, "there's just one problem."

Blossom blinked, "what's that?"

The Professor looked to Brick with a sad glint in his eyes, "even though Brick appears to be conscious, he's completely unresponsive, the virus has attacked him greatly, I'm not sure if his body will be strong enough to accept the anti-virus,"

Blossom felt her heart constrict within her chest, she shook her head back and forth, feeling the air leave her lungs hopelessly, "T-that... t-that can't be right..." she said, forcing herself not to cry.

The Professor smiled, "but... I think I know what we can do."

Blossom looked up at the Professor with tears in her eyes, "w-what?" she asked.

"A kiss," the Professor said.

Blossom recoiled instantly, "what?"

"Do the Rowdyruff boys still react when you kiss them?" The Professor asked.

Blossom blushed, suddenly very self-aware of herself, "well... we've only r-really done that once and that was six years ago!" she exclaimed looking at the floor, "b-but... it might be possible that..."

"If you kiss him, Blossom, the chances of him beating this virus will become much greater." The Professor explained, "his body will be given the extra strength that he needs."

"But what if the virus affects me?" Blossom asked quietly.

"It won't," the Professor assured, "for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be spreading and even if it were, it would only spread to those with toxic waste in their genetic make-up."

Blossom looked at the floor, "if you want him to survive," the Professor reminded, "you're going to have to do it."


	5. Chapter 5

_**:) Thank you guys so much for the amaazing reviews, we're almost through with the story, but there's one more chapter to go, so stay tuned! I hope you enjoy this one! ^^ And once again thank you!**_

_Chapter 5_

Blossom stood a few feet away from Brick's bed after that.

The Professor had given her some space to do what was needed to be done. Though it was something he preferred his daughter _not _to do, especially at the tender age of eleven, if Blossom truly wanted to make sure Brick survived... it was the only thing to do. So he let her decide. Alone.

Blossom debated with herself internally, fighting over what was the best thing to do.

How was she to approach the situation? It was _Brick _she was talking about. The leader of the Rowdyruff boys...

She couldn't truly believe they'd change just because she saved their brother.

But wouldn't they be one hundred times worse if it was her fault that he didn't make it? Blossom's heart squeezed just thinking of that option. The truth was, she _wanted _Brick to make it. She couldn't see herself without him there, plotting against her... being evil, fighting her. As crazy as it sounded... she enjoyed to fight him. It was like the true aggression of the fights seemed to lack somewhat, as if both children got more fun out of it than actual physical pain. She couldn't speak for Buttercup or Bubbles, but that was how _she _felt. And right then and there, the choice of Brick's life solely depended on her decision.

"Brick." Blossom slowly approached the bed, watching Brick as if he were an experiment. He didn't seem to respond to her, he just kept staring at the wall. He had no will power, no way to fight what was happening to him. All he could do was crawl into a dark hole in his sanity and wait it out.

"Brick," Blossom grew a little agitated with his silence, putting a hesitant arm on his shoulder.

"Get off," the words held no real aggression, but Blossom knew he meant it, his voice was cracked but he managed it somehow, coughing drying onto the pillow before he turned towards Blossom, wincing slightly. He looked at her as if he were asking what she wanted. Blossom felt speechless, but progressed nonetheless, "I'm going to help you." She stated solemnly.

Brick narrowed his eyes, "didn't a-ask for your help," he said lowly.

Blossom forced herself not to attack the kid. Even on death's door he was still a pain in the butt. "If I don't help you, you're going to die." Blossom said matter-of-factly, staring down her counterpart in all seriousness.

Brick frowned, "h-how can I trust you?" he spat, attempting to roll to his other side, but found himself with little energy to do so.

Blossom sighed, "I'm betting if I was lying you would be able to get away by now, but you can't because I'm telling you the truth. If you can't fight the virus, you're going to..." Blossom couldn't finish her sentence, her voice had already fallen in pitch as she looked away nervously from her counterpart.

Brick grunted, "looks like you care 'bout me."

Blossom narrowed her eyes, "No! I-" her shoulders fell in defeat, "maybe a little..."

Brick smiled, "nice try toots, but it ain't gonna, gonna," Brick broke off to cough, seemingly sinking further into his pillow, "what can you do to help me?" he tried to make himself sound sarcastic, but he knew it came out more as a plea. Truth was, he was afraid.

Blossom rubbed her neck uncomfortably, "well I'd have to..." she cleared her throat; looking anywhere but at her counterpart, "I'd have to..." she swallowed, looking at the floor, "I'd have to kiss you."

Brick recoiled in his pillow, his eyes widening with the first of his usual character that Blossom hadn't seen for what felt like forever. She almost smiled.

"Gross," he spat, looking away from her, "just lemme die."

Blossom smiled sadly, "I'm sorry,"

Brick narrowed his eyes, "why you apologizing?"

Blossom shrugged, "It just feels like I have to... look if there was another way I'd-"

"Do it."

Blossom recoiled with the seriousness of Brick's tone. She rubbed her cheek in confusion, hovering in front of her counterpart, staring at him in awe, "sorry?"

Brick sighed, "I gotta look after my brothers jus' as much as you do for your lame sisters." His voice cracked in several places, but he chose to ignore his weakness, instead he looked at Blossom seriously, "You and me ain't so different, right now we gotta both take one for the team."

Blossom opened her mouth to speak, but instead was cut off by one of Brick's latest coughing fits. This time it sounded worse, as if he were about to hack up a lung. Blossom frowned. She needed to do this soon or she worried that maybe even a kiss wouldn't be strong enough to stabilize him.

Blossom leaned in on her counterpart, staring at him awkwardly. It was like she couldn't make herself look away... Brick was so pale and exhausted looking... she felt compelled to do it. Blossom closed her eyes, thinking back to six years previously... back when the Rowdyruff boys were still Mojo's creations.

_I think I like kissing._

Blossom smiled to the memory, thinking forwards... back to when they returned.

_I want the blonde! I think he's cute._

Blossom made a mental eye roll. Though she remembered her look of discontent from Bubble's outburst... she remembered feeling the same attraction to Brick.

_He is kind of cute._

Brick just looked away, his face contorted into a frown as he refused to look at his counterpart. He felt genuinely awful, his head was banging inside his skull and he wanted nothing more than to curl in on himself and cry. But he _wouldn't _cry, not again not ever. It was humiliating for him to...

Suddenly, Brick felt Blossom's lips press against his own. His eyes instantly moved to hers, who was closed yet seemingly relaxed. Brick closed his eyes as if on command, relaxing into the kiss, feeling a sudden outburst of power beam into his body. His head cleared slightly as he felt the power absorb into him. Then Blossom withdrew, averting her gaze and blushing slightly.

Both supers looked at each other in the same instant, feeling confused about their own feelings. Brick scratched the back of his neck, looking away once more, "we don't mention this to anyone, agreed?"

Blossom grinned, rolling her eyes, "agreed."

After the kiss, Blossom left Brick in the hands of the Professor, who was already beginning to regain some of his usual character and colour. It looked good for the kid, though he was still coughing reasonably badly, the Professor said that he'd created a substance to counteract all of the symptoms and effectively destroy the virus.

"A virus?" the two remaining Rowdyruffs asked in union. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"It means he caught something _somewhere _from the air that you two weren't exposed to." Blossom said directly, rolling her eyes, "can you think of anything?"

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged, "Urm..." Boomer said, slowly thinking about it, "not sure,"

Blossom sighed, "can you remember what you were doing before Brick started showing signs of the virus."

Butch looked at the ceiling in thought, "we blew some stuff up, robbed a video game store... we stole some kid's candy, beat some people up..."

Boomer carried on, "...We played who could shoot the farthest snot rocket, we messed with the sewer lines so they spewed all over the roads, oh we made some babies cry and beat you up too!"

Buttercup instantly appeared from around the corner, "nuh-uh, we beat you guys!"

"Not how I remember it," Boomer said, looking away angrily.

Buttercup was just about ready to hit the kid when Bubbles and Blossom grabbed her and held her back. The two Powerpuffs exchanged looks.

"Did you say..." Bubbles began,

"...Sewer lines?" Blossom finished.

"Yeah!" Butch grinned, sticking his tongue out at Buttercup who was glowering at the two boys, "we just about covered half the city, man what a prank!"

Blossom sighed, "the toxic waste in the sewers might have held some kind of viral agent... that would explain why it was already so fitted to your DNA structure."

The boys looked at each other, and then back at Blossom, "what?" they asked blankly.

Blossom slapped a hand over her face, "tell me, did you guys get any on you?"

"The sewer stuff? Nah, not me," Butch said, laughing, "but Brick he..." then he cut himself off, blinking, "oh,"

"What?" Boomer asked, "I don't get it!" he whined.

"Shut it," Butch sighed, hitting his brother in the arm, "we didn't mean to we swear!"

Blossom rolled her eyes, "we know you didn't mean to, but the Professor's going to have to inject you as well to make sure neither of you catch this specific strain either."

The boys nodded and disappeared into the lab, leaving the three Powerpuffs on their own.

"Well?" Buttercup asked, "What's gonna happen with Brick."

Blossom felt her face warm up, "he'll... he'll be fine,"

Buttercup scowled, "you see? Now they're gonna go and commit crime again!"

Blossom looked towards the lab door, thinking of the kiss she shared with Brick. Her heart fluttered in response as she put a hand to her chest, "maybe..."

"Why? Did something happen?" Bubbles asked, "because for a second there we thought that Brick wasn't going to make it... at least that's what it sounded like..."

Blossom looked away from her sisters, "No, the Professor's made the anti-virus and he should be completely fine!"

Buttercup looked at her blushing sister, grinning darkly, "are you _suuure _that's all that happened?" she laughed.

Blossom scowled, "Yes!" she cried, "nothing else, Brick's fine... the boy's will be injected and then..."

_CRASH!_

The girls' eyes widened as they looked at each other and then to the lab, quickly flying through the door that had opened slightly with the vibrations of the noise.

Bubbles and Buttercup stared angrily at the hole in the ceiling that the boys had created, Blossom's gaze, however was fixed on the ruined lab, where machinery and test tubes alike had been smashed to pieces. Brick's skin tone had completely turned back to normal, his grin dark and his eyes shining a powerful red. Blossom felt her heart drop slightly.

Had their kiss meant nothing to him?

"Thanks for nothing losers!" Brick yelled, laughing as they rose out of the hole in the ceiling.

Boomer snorted, "yeah!" he grinned.

"Fight yah later!" Butch finished as the boys disappeared in a flash of Red, green and blue.

"I knew it!" Buttercup scowled, looking towards the Professor whose eyes were as wide as the girls', "what happened?" she asked angrily.

The Professor sighed, "I applied the injection to Brick first... by the time I'd gotten around to the boys Brick's symptoms had already vanished, I didn't realise it would take affect so quickly, if I'd have known..."

Blossom sighed, "it's not your fault Professor," she looked up to the ceiling, feeling tears threaten her eyes as she gazed up at the vacant sky.

_It was my fault for ever thinking that they could change..._


	6. Chapter 6

_**The final chapter is here! It's short and fluffy and sweet and I hope you like it! Tell me if you want me to write a sick fic for Blossom or maybe another character! I'm working on a longer PPG story at the moment that involves a few moments where parts of this story is mentioned. I won't tell you what it's aabooutt, but it starts with 11-year-old puffs and ruffs, moves on to their teenage years, a bit of school romance, jealousy... and someone new... You'll know more later, the first couple of taster-chapters will be up soon! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, you've been amazing readers! I love you guys! ^^ x**_

_Chapter 6_

The girls spent the rest of their day helping the Professor clean up the lab, fix the hole in the ceiling and replace anything that the boys broke on their rampage before they broke out of the house. During the clean-up, Blossom remained uncharacteristically silent.

"Ugh! It's at this point I would really love for a giant monster to rampage through Townsville!" Buttercup announced, dropping her broom on the floor where she'd been sweeping up some broken glass from some knocked over beakers. "This sucks!"

"It's the least we can do," Bubbles defended, "we brought them here,"

Buttercup frowned, "Nuh-uh, at no point did I think _that _was a good idea!" she corrected, looking over to Blossom angrily, watching as she silently painted over the hole in the ceiling, her eyes closed solemnly as if she were in deep thought.

"It was Blossom's idea! She was the one that went behind our backs!" Buttercup growled, folding her arms in agitation.

Blossom's lip quivered, but she kept it together. She _knew _it was her fault. How could she have possibly trusted the Rowdyruff boys? They'd been created by Mojo Jojo and reincarnated by _Him. _How could she have thought for even a second that they could change...?

Bubbles looked at Blossom sadly, "Leave her alone Buttercup," Bubbles sighed, sweeping up the remainder of the glass.

Blossom kept quiet even after their work was done. She didn't speak a word through the girls playing video games and she didn't say a word during Dinnertime. She just kept testing Brick's words through her head.

Their _kiss._

_You and I ain't so different_

Blossom sighed silently. How could she possibly believe that? They'd wrecked the Professor's lab directly after being treated. Blossom scowled at her plate, seeing part of her reflection surrounded with meat and vegetables. If Brick ever got sick again, if _any _of them got sick again, they would be on their own. She would refuse to help them. As far as she was concerned, Townsville would be better off without them.

_But if that was so... then why did her heart squeeze every time she thought about him?_

Blossom lay awake that night, still going over the facts in her head. All she could do was stare at the ceiling as she listened to her sisters sleep. Tomorrow was school... yet Blossom couldn't relax. The thought of school work and a possible monster attack usually made her aware of the need to sleep, but no matter how many sheep she tried to count, each one would finally return to Brick's pale face as she looked at him just before their lips met.

The girls had even tried to find the boys... to beat a good lot of sense into them after destroying their Father's lab. But to no avail did the girls find who they were looking for. They weren't at home, and scowering the city was just as pointless as trying to find a needle in a haystack without using their x-ray vision. The boys were them in every aspect, they had all of their powers... it was impossible to find them.

It was then that Blossom's eyes widened further as she heard a rustle of something outside.

_A burglar?_

_Oh please let it be someone to beat up!_

Blossom closed her eyes, listening to the sound whilst pretending to be asleep. The intruder wouldn't dare come in if they thought someone was awake... and Blossom oh-so needed something to take her mind off of Brick and his brothers.

She heard someone try the window and instantly stiffened. What if the girls woke up? She wouldn't get the thrill of beating up this guy if they were all awake.

The window was tried again before she heard someone's feet land on the carpeted floors. Blossom could almost feel the presence of someone there, yet she still didn't open her eyes. She waited for the next move.

A few seconds passed...

Then a few minutes...

Blossom grew tired of the waiting, desperately attempting to figure out whether she'd heard anyone at all or not.

_Finally, _she opened her eyes.

It should have frightened her...

It should have shocked her...

It should have made her at least feel something other than _this..._

_Joy?_

_Excitement?_

_Eagerness?_

Two large red eyes stared at her through the dark. They weren't narrowed, just... observing.

"Brick?" Blossom whispered, afraid to wake the girls. Brick's eyes widened as he backed away a moment. "Brick!" Blossom hissed, her voice still low.

She saw the boy's eyes roll in an almost sarcastic fashion as he, like a shot, appeared by her side. "Oh c'mon," he hissed into her ear.

Blossom felt a hand on her arm as she was suddenly dragged from bed, pulled along out of the window and lightly planted on her front lawn.

Blossom was relieved to see that even in the dim light, Brick looked completely healthy, though that didn't exactly explain why he was there... _watching _her.

"What were you doing?" Blossom asked, her eyes slightly narrowed, her voice still low, taking into account the sleeping neighbourhood.

"Nothin'" Brick muttered, driving his hands into his pockets as he looked away.

"Brick! You were staring at me," Blossom hissed, "I swear if you don't start talking now I'll-"

"Look!" Brick rose a hand in front of Blossom's face as if to silence her. "I'm not askin' for trouble, I'm here to... uh," Brick put a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly, "to... t-thank you," he muttered, looking at the ground.

Blossom couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her heart thundered in her ears, yet all she could listen to was the reason that was yelling at her through her mind.

"H-How dare you!" Blossom almost yelled, quickly lowering her voice as she grabbed the collar of Brick's shirt, "you tear apart the Professor's lab... you put a hole in our ceiling and more or less take advantage of our kindness towards you and _now _you think you could _possibly _make it all better by saying-"

"Sorry!"

Blossom let go of Brick's shirt, recoiling slightly, "what did you just say."

Brick lifted up his hands, "hey, no, don't you think I'm sayin' it again. You heard me though."

Blossom blinked, "I- I'm not sure what t-to say," she stuttered.

Brick frowned, "don't say nothin', we wrecked your dad's place and that was wrong, so I'm, y'know... just apologizing for my brothers."

"You had to stare at me to do that?" Blossom asked quietly.

Brick blushed, scowling as he rubbed at his face in an attempt to wipe away his reddened cheeks, "No! I just... I just wanted to..."

Blossom stared at Brick silently as he fumbled with his words, "Yes?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"Oh screw it!" Brick scowled, grabbing Blossom by the shoulders as he pulled her into him, planting a small kiss on her cheek before pushing her away again.

Blossom's eyes widened, her hand instantly touching her cheek, completely speechless.

Brick rubbed his arm aimlessly, "like I said, thanks." He grumbled, blushing slightly again as he backed away.

Blossom spoke no words as Brick flew into the air, "don't tell no one about this, promise?" Brick asked as he gained a few feet into the air.

Blossom stared at him, blushing ever so slightly as she smiled, "promise," she said breathlessly.

"Good."

Blossom watched him disappear in a flash of red... but she could have sworn...

Just for a _second..._

Before he flew away...

Brick smiled.

Blossom went back to bed that night and slept peacefully. Her mind at ease once more.

**_It's over! Aw, I hope you enjoyed it. I know you probably expected some kind of make-out session but they're eleven and also supposed to be enemies, I think this was the sweetest way I could end it and still stick to the reality of the situation. ^^ xx Thanks so much for the support, and if you're massive PPG and RRB fans then you'll be pleased to know there's a new story on its way! x_**


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